Sharepoint 2010 Pdf Handling Changes And Impacts To End Users

Handling PDFs in SharePoint 2010

What Changed and Why It Matters

Microsoft made significant modifications to the way SharePoint 2010 platforms ingest, index, and extract semantic entities from Portable Document Format (PDF) documents. The software giant discontinued reliance on third-party PDF iFilter components, instead enabling parsing and analysis of PDF files through intrinsic Windows operating system functionality. This transition aims to deliver more consistent and integrated PDF handling, but necessitates changes to workflow habits for SharePoint administrators and end users.

The key alteration involves the stripping of integrated support for PDF iFilter modules inside SharePoint 2010. Previous SharePoint releases leveraged these plugins to extract text, metadata, and inline semantic structure from uploaded PDFs. iFilters interfaced with the platform’s search index and document parsing tools to allow rich indexing and querying of PDF content. By removing this dedicated PDF iFilter pipeline in favor of baked-in Windows indexing, Microsoft hope to achieve more robust handling. But this shift can temporarily disable existing PDF workflows.

For end users, the most noticeable impact centers on search. SharePoint 2010 environments no longer apply the complex linguistic rules, synonyms, and entity extraction of PDF iFilters by default. Instead, the platform utilizes the more basic PDF text parsing available within Windows indexing. This can reduce the richness of searchable PDF content and metadata until administrators properly configure parsing parameters. Power users also lose pre-built PDF iFilter rules for automatically tagging semantic entities like dates, names, and locations.

Alternatives for Opening PDFs

With the transition away from dedicated PDF iFilters, SharePoint 2010 adopts new pathways for rendering and interacting with PDF documents uploaded to document libraries and site collections. Administrators need to guide users regarding the best options for common PDF tasks.

For casual viewing of PDF files stored in a document library, administrators can configure the library to open the files directly within the web browser using a PDF.js or other JavaScript-based viewer. This avoids the need to download the file before viewing, streamlining access. Code like below illustrates this:

$web = Get-SPWeb "http://site url"
$web.UIVersionSettings.EnableMinimalDownload = $true
$web.Update()

Alternatively, users can simply download the PDF file to their local device to open it using Adobe Acrobat Reader or another desktop program. This provides the full range of viewing, annotation, and editing tools. But file operations require manual syncing back to the server document library.

For bulk operations, PowerShell scripts can iterate through all PDF files in a document library and utilize server-side file conversion tools like Microsoft Word Automation Services. The code snippets below demonstrate invocation of this conversion service to transform SharePoint 2010 PDF libraries into Word .DOCX files.

Code Snippets for Common PDF Tasks

Administrators can assist users through PowerShell scripts that automate common PDF document handling tasks in SharePoint 2010 libraries.

To upload a PDF file into a target SharePoint document library, the following one-liner handles the entire operation:

Add-PnPFile -Path C:\Users\fran\Documents\NewProductBrief.pdf -Folder "Marketing Docs"

Opening a PDF directly within the browser without forcing user download involves toggling a specific library setting:

$web = Get-SPWeb "http://mysite url" 
$list = $web.Lists["Documents"]
$list.BrowserFileHandling = [Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFileHandling]::PermissiveBrowserFileHandling 
$list.Update()

To convert all PDF files within a document library to Word .DOCX for full fidelity editing, administrators can utilize Word Automation Services like below:

$lib = Get-SPDocumentLibrary "Documents"
$files = $lib.Files | Where {$_ -like "*.pdf"}  
foreach ($file in $files) {
  $filePath = $file.Serve("?WordDocument") 
  $newFile = Add-PnPRedirectedFile $filePath
  Remove-PnPFile -ServerRelativeUrl $file.ServerRelativeUrl  
}

Optimizing PDFs for Accessibility

Creating and managing PDFs that conform to accessibility standards ensures all users, including those with disabilities, can properly consume the content. This optimization process entails both authoring guidelines and post-hoc analysis.

When initially generating PDF documents, content creators should adhere to best practices that enhance accessibility. Using semantic markup elements like subtitles, alternate text descriptions for images, proper heading hierarchy, and high contrast colors improves the reading experience. Furthermore, exporting PDFs from programs like Word that preserve document structure typically yields better results than scanning print pages.

For existing PDFs, administrators and power users can scan files using Microsoft’s Accessibility Checker tool or online analysis suites. These services identify issues like missing metadata, insufficient color contrast, and lack of navigational aids. Automated remediation can fix common problems, while creators may need to manually edit documents in the original authoring program to address all flagged accessibility violations.

FAQs on SharePoint 2010 PDF Handling

This section covers frequent troubleshooting issues and workarounds for common PDF scenarios in SharePoint 2010.

Q: Why don’t searches find text in PDF documents?

A: Check that the Search Service Application associated with the site collection has PDF parsing enabled through the Windows Filter Pack. The filter pack needs training for optimal entity extraction.

Q: How do I open large PDF files without delays?

A: Enable the “Permissive Browser File Handling” property on the SharePoint document library hosting the files to trigger streamed viewing.

Q: Can I bulk export PDF annotations?

A: SharePoint 2010 does not natively support PDF annotation storage and export. Consider a third-party annotation integration tool for these capabilities.

Q: Why do my PDF files appear corrupted in the document library?

A: Check the configured maximum upload size for the web application, which can truncate oversized uploads. Also confirm users are not uploading print spool files instead of PDF exports.